《歷世真仙體道通鑑》Vol. 4

Tianzhen Huangren (Heavenly True Sovereign)

The origins of Tianzhen Huangren's attainment of the Dao can no longer be traced, but he is said to have become a perfected being through cultivation in a previous life, reaching an extremely high state. He stood nine chi tall, and his whole body was covered in long black hair, each strand more than a chi in length.

During the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), Tianzhen Huangren lived in the most yin place on Mount Emei. His dwelling was built of blue-green jade, his seat was made of gold, and gorgeous banners hung on every side. Hundred-blend incense burned around him, and immortal youths and jade maidens attended him. At one gathering three guests were present, all of whom declared themselves the Immortal Kings of Taiqing. The Yellow Emperor bowed to him and asked for instruction, and he transmitted to the emperor the Scripture of the Five Sprouts and Three Ones (Wuya Sanyi zhi Wen, a Daoist formula for cultivation). Another account holds that Tianzhen Huangren transmitted the Taishang Lingbao Dures Scripture (Taishang Lingbao Duren Jing) to the Yellow Emperor on Mount Emei, and that he also taught Emperor Ku (Di Ku) at Mude Terrace.

A different tradition places Tianzhen Huangren's place of cultivation in Mount Min in the land of Shu. North of the river there is a mountain called Cimu (Mother's Mountain). On it lies a Dragon Pool, in which live fish of gold, silver, copper, and iron. Their flavor is said to resemble dried ginger. Eating these fish was believed to prolong life, and people called them rou zhi (flesh fungus, a numinous substance nourishing the body and extending life). The Dragon Pool exists in two places, one within the mountain and one in the sky. Its water is as clear as a mirror, and not even the smallest speck of debris can stain it. When dead branches or fallen leaves happen to drift onto its surface, they turn into five-colored ducks, which are then carried away by white stones.

Bai Shisheng (Master White Stone)

Bai Shisheng was a disciple of Zhonghuang Zhangren (Elder Zhonghuang). By the time Pengzu (Master Peng) was alive, Bai Shisheng had already lived more than two thousand years. Yet he had no desire to pursue the Way of ascending to heaven. He sought only to avoid death and continued to enjoy the pleasures of the human world. The method of cultivation he adopted relied chiefly on taking the Golden Liquor elixir (jinye zhi yao, the medicinal compound that Daoists refined).

At first, Bai Shisheng came from a poor family of low standing and could not afford the elixir. He therefore raised pigs and herded sheep for more than ten years, living frugally until he had saved ten thousand in gold, and only then did he buy the medicine to take. He often boiled white stones and treated them as food, which is why he lived on White Stone Mountain. People of the time therefore called him Bai Shisheng. Sometimes he ate dried meat and drank wine, and sometimes he ate grain. In a single day he could travel three or four hundred li. He appeared to be about thirty years old. He liked to worship at dawn and to visualize the gods (cun si), and he also enjoyed reading immortal scriptures and the Taisu Zhuan (Transmission of the Great Simplicity).

Pengzu asked him, "Why do you not take the elixir and ascend to heaven?" Bai Shisheng replied, "Nothing in heaven compares with the joys of the human world. As long as I can avoid aging and dying, that is enough. In heaven there are many supreme gods whom one must serve, and that would be even more toilsome than life among people." For this reason, people of the time called Bai Shisheng a "hermit immortal," because he did not...

He sought ascent to heaven to become an immortal official with urgent zeal, yet he did not pursue worldly fame or distinction.

Wang Ni

The ancient immortal Wang Ni was a disciple of Lord Lao (Laojun) and attained the Dao between the reigns of Yi Nong. The Yellow Emperor (Huangdi) once met him and asked him for the essential key to transmitting the Dao. Afterward, Wang Ni passed through the reigns of Shaohao and Zhuanxu and often wandered among the people.

Before the time of Emperor Ku (Diku), he had served as the teacher of Nie Que, transmitting to him the Way of Flying Steps (feibu zhi dao). In the era of Yao and Shun, people still saw him; then one day he ascended to heaven and departed.

Master Hongya

Concerning Master Hongya (Hongya Xiansheng), some say he was Ling Lun, a minister of the Yellow Emperor. After attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal, he changed his surname to Zhang. Others say that in the time of Emperor Yao he had already lived three thousand years.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han, Wei Dushi entered Mount Hua to search for his father, Shu Qing. Shu Qing was playing chess with several people on a sheer cliff. When Wei Dushi asked who they were, the reply was: "Master Hongya, Xu You, Chao Fu, Dadi Gong, Feihuang Zi, Prince Wang Jin, and Xue Rong."

In the Eastern Han, Ban Mengjian wrote in his Rhapsody on the Western Capital (Xijing Fu): "Hongya stood and gave directions, while the fine feathers swirled in profusion." This shows that Master Hongya, as chief among the immortals, was already well known. Tao Hongjing's Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen Gao) states that Master Hongya now holds the office of Dongzhen in Mount Qingcheng, and therefore traces of Hongya are still found on that mountain.

Guo Jingchun, in his "Poems on Wandering Among Immortals" (Youxian Shi), wrote: "On the left I hold the sleeve of Fuqiu; on the right I pat the shoulder of Hongya." He also wrote: "Chang'e raises her wondrous voice; Hongya nods his chin." These lines depict Master Hongya in company with Chang'e, Fuqiu, and other immortals, and suggest that cultivators of the time could still see them.

West of Yuzhang lies Mount Hongya, where Master Hongya lived in seclusion. In the ninth year of the Kaihuang era under Emperor Wen of the Sui, the Yuzhang Commandery was renamed Hongzhou, the name taken from the mountain where he dwelt. Today, along the northern cliff of Mount Fulong, there is a Hongya well, its flanks bordered by steep, towering stone walls. In spring and summer, rapid torrents rush down the cliff with a roar like thunder; once they flow into the well, the force drops sharply, and the surplus water gathers into a stream that runs into the Luan Marsh.

Above the well, at the edge of the cliff, stands an ancient altar, said to be the place where Master Hongya refined elixirs. When the region suffers drought, people come here to pray for rain. It is said that on such occasions a red serpent once floated on the water, and heavy rain fell at once.

About a li north of the well, on stone ground, lie five mortars for pounding medicine. Their color is reddish like cinnabar; each is round and deep, more than two chi in depth. It is said these were where Master Hongya pounded his medicines. Local people say that on the Duanwu festival, before dawn, one can sometimes hear the sound of pounding, and woodcutters often come upon medicinal dregs he left behind.

(Continued from above.) About two li further on, there is a hillock surrounded by water, which is Luanpo. Legend holds that Luan Ridge was the place where Master Xian rested after riding a phoenix-like luan bird. Beside the hillock there was once a Luanshan Temple.

The Celestial Master Sima's Wuyue chaoyi records that the grotto-heaven of Qingcheng Mountain is about two thousand li in circumference. It is said that Master Hongya once took the Langgan flower as an elixir, lived in seclusion here, and later became the Perfected of Qingcheng.

Zhan Shanggong

Zhan Shanggong was an immortal of the era of Emperor Gaoxin. He studied the Way at Fulong Place, later met Li Miman, attained the Dao and ascended to immortality, and he now serves as Right Minister of the Nine Palaces.

Zhan Shanggong once said to the assembled immortals: "Long ago, while I was at the foot of Huayang Mountain, I ate white plums, and they were delicious. Before long, suddenly three thousand years had passed." Guo Sichao later planted five kinds of fruit trees in the area. This place is also suitable for growing the nai tree; the so-called "nai of the blessed village" is said to dispel pestilence.

The Yukui ji states that Xianzhu Mountain is commonly called Dunü Mountain. After Zhan Shanggong ascended to heaven, he remarked: "Long ago, while I was at the foot of Huayang Mountain eating white plums, in the blink of an eye three thousand years went by." It is said that Lord Mao once supervised the planting of green nai trees here, and that White Plum Stream lies to the north of Xiao Mao Mountain.

The Zhenhao zhu examines the chronology of successive ages and calculates that from the first year of Yao, the wuxu year, to the jimao year of the Qi dynasty, there were 2,803 years in total. Emperor Gaoxin was Yao's father; since these words were spoken in the Jin dynasty, reckoned back to the time of Yao the span must have been more than 2,800 years. Therefore, the "three thousand years" may simply be an imprecise figure in calendrical reckoning. As for whether the dingkai year has already passed, that too is difficult to determine. Reckoned according to the Jizhong jinian, the interval comes to exactly 2,643 years, which differs even more from the "three thousand years" claim.

He Hou

He Hou was a man of the time of Yao who lived in seclusion on Cangwu Mountain and admired the Way of longevity. His household numbered more than three hundred people, who made their living by farming. When Shun made a southern tour, he once stayed at He Hou's house. Five elders sent by the Celestial Emperor told Shun that the time for his ascension had arrived. The next day, the Five Emperors came to receive him, and Shun ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

By the time of Xia Yu, the Five Emperors had given He Hou a vessel of medicine, which he was to put into wine. More than three hundred members of his family drank the wine, yet it did not diminish. He Hou then sprinkled the remaining wine over the roofs and halls, and the entire compound immediately ascended to heaven. He Hou later took his place among the Supreme Ultimate immortals. Today there is a He Hou Temple on Mount Yi, beside the Shun Temple.

Wenzi

Wenzi, surnamed Xin and personal name Ying, also called Jiran, was a native of Puye in Kuiqiu. His ancestors…

The Prince of the state of Jin once studied the Dao under the Venerable Lord Laozi. (Some versions name King Ping of Chu instead.) King Ping of Chu asked Wenzi: "I have heard that you learned the Dao from Lao Dan. Now, even when a worthy person possesses the Dao, he must live in a licentious age. Relying on one person's strength alone, how could he hope to transform a people who have long been in chaos?"

Wenzi replied: "Dao and De can correct wickedness and return it to the right path. They can quell disorder so that the realm is governed. They can reverse licentious and corrupt customs and bring people back to simplicity. Only when virtuous conduct is revived can the realm be at peace, and the key lies with those in high positions. Accumulate virtue and one accomplishes kingly enterprise; accumulate resentment and one heads toward ruin. Yao and Shun flourished for this reason, and Jie and Zhou perished for this reason."

King Ping accepted his words, and afterward the realm was well governed. Wenzi later traveled south to Wu and Yue, where Fan Li became his disciple. When the state of Yue was preparing to attack Wu, Fan Li admonished the king: "I have heard my teacher say that weapons are ill-omened things and that war runs against virtue; contention is the lowest of all affairs. To plot in secret, act against virtue, and delight in instruments of violence, placing oneself in the lowest kind of contention, will not do." Goujian did not heed the advice and was defeated at Fujiao.

Later, Fan Li was offered the office of Senior Grand Minister but declined it and retired to Mount Yuying in Wuxing, from where tradition holds that he ascended to the heavens. The Huanyu ji and the Wuxing zhi both record that Mount Yuying lies thirty li southeast of Wuxing, and that Ji Ran, a grand minister of Yue, once climbed the mountain to observe and plan the terrain, which is why it was called "Ji Chou Mountain." Today, the Tongxuan Abbey on White Stone Peak on the mountain's south side marks the site of Fan Li's former seclusion, and the Shengyuan Abbey at Ziyun Pass is the ancient Changqing Abbey. In the Qiandao reign period of Emperor Xiaozong of the Song, Changqing Abbey was granted its present name. A stone called "Ascending the Clouds" lies on the mountainside. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang posthumously conferred on Fan Li the title Perfected of Profound Penetration (Tongxuan Zhenren), and the book he wrote is called the Classic of Profound Penetration (Tongxuan Zhenjing).

Kangcangzi

Kangcangzi, whose surname was Geng and personal name Chu, was a native of Chen who attained the Dao of the Venerable Lord. He could "see with his ears and hear with his eyes." Shusun reported this to the ruler of Lu, who was greatly astonished and sent a Senior Minister bearing generous gifts to invite him.

After Kangcangzi arrived in Lu, the ruler humbly sought his instruction. Kangcangzi said: "Those who speak of my abilities have not told the truth. I can perceive without using my ears and eyes, but I cannot change what the ears and eyes naturally do."

The ruler of Lu said: "That is even more extraordinary. What is your Dao like?"

Kangcangzi replied: "The body joins with the mind, the mind joins with qi (qi), and qi joins with the Void (xuwu). If there is even the faintest trace of existence, or the slightest sound, I will surely know it, whether it lies beyond the eight wildernesses or is as close as the space between the brows and the lashes. Yet I do not know that I have seven orifices, four..."

The four limbs perceive what they perceive, and the heart, the abdomen, and the six fu organs (the six viscera of traditional Chinese medicine) know only what each of them is able to sense.

The Duke of Lu was greatly delighted. According to another account, he lived on Mount Weilei. The ministers who appeared clever and skilled at scheming left him, and the concubines who appeared pure and benevolent also kept their distance. He lived only with people of heavy, bloated build and had those with sluggish movements carry out his affairs. After six years of this, the region around Mount Weilei enjoyed a great harvest. Later he traveled to Wuxing and retired to Mengfeng (Mengfeng Peak) in Piling, where he cultivated the Dao to completion and ascended to immortality. Afterward, Zhang Daoling of the Han dynasty and Zhang Guolao of the Tang dynasty each retired and cultivated here in turn, so the place came to be called the Blessed Land of Zhang Gong's Altar. In antiquity a Dongling Abbey (dònglíng guàn) was built locally, and in the Song dynasty it was renamed the Dajia Wanshou Palace.

Master Fuqiu

Li Fuqiubo, known to the world as Master Fuqiu, cultivated the Dao on Mount Song and later ascended to immortality in broad daylight. He composed the Song of the Origin of the Dao, which says: "The tiger crouches, and the dragon also hides; once the dragon hides, first subdue the tiger. When the hechegong (hé chē gōng, the 'river-chariot' technique, a method of circulating energy in Daoist neidan practice) is perfected, there is no need to erect dikes for defense. If the disciples study the art of flying immortality but their minds and spirits are disordered and confused, they cannot find rest. When left and right assist each other and ruler and minister are in accord, and the four things regard and protect one another, the image of Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth) can take form, and a true person (zhēnrén) will naturally come to visit."

Master Fuqiu also passed the Classic of Examining Cranes (Xiàng Hè Jīng) to Prince Jin. Cui Wenzi had studied the Dao under Prince Jin, and after receiving this book he hid it in a stone chamber on Mount Song. The Lord of Huainan discovered it while gathering medicinal herbs, and the book was afterward transmitted to the world.

The Classic of Examining Cranes says: The crane is a yang bird, yet it lives in shaded places. It relies on the qi of metal and rides on the essence of fire to nourish itself. The number of metal is nine and the number of fire is seven, so the crane undergoes a minor change every seven years and a major change every sixteen years, and only after a hundred and sixty years of change does it cease. Having passed through sixteen hundred years, its body remains pure, and so its plumage is white. Its cry carries to heaven, so the crown of its head is red. It seeks food in water, so its beak is long. It lifts its body forward, so its hind toes are short. It rests on land, so its legs are tall and its tail feathers are sparse. It flies among the clouds, so its feathers are full and its flesh is lean. Its throat is broad, which makes it easy to exhale, and its neck is long, which makes it easy to take in fresh qi. For this reason its lifespan is long beyond measure.

The crane's body does not show blue or yellow, because the qi of wood and earth nourish it within and do not appear outwardly. Therefore, when it walks it always keeps to sandbars and water's edge, and when it rests it must gather among the trees. The crane is the leader among birds and the steed of immortals.

The highest form of crane has a lean head, a vermilion crown, and eyes that stand out with pupils that are jet black. Its nose is high and its beak is short. Its cheekbones and the outline of its ears are distinct, its neck is long and erect, and its body is tall. Its chest is like that of the luan bird, its wings are like those of the phoenix, its feathers are like those of a sparrow, its back is like that of a tortoise, and its belly is like that of a soft-shelled turtle. Its forebody is raised high, its rear hangs low, its neck stands tall, the first segment of its neck is broad, its thighs are sturdy, and its toes are slender. When all these features are present, its form is complete. When the crane cries, its voice can be heard...

A immortal crane needs to beat its wings only once to fly a thousand li through the sky. Two years later, it begins to shed its downy feathers, its plumage turns black, and dark spots appear on its body.

Three years on, it grows its folded flight feathers. Seven years after that, its wings are fully grown, and after seven more years it can fly close to the Milky Way. From then on, its abilities advance one stage every seven years. First, its dancing comes into rhythm, and then it can call in tune at any hour of the day. Seven years later, it no longer eats living creatures, its coarse feathers fall away, and fine, soft new feathers grow in. Its plumage becomes white as snow, or deep black all over, and mud and water cannot soil it.

After one hundred and sixty years, a male and female crane facing each other can conceive. After another sixteen hundred years, it drinks only water and takes no food, and it can then give birth through transformation to luan and phoenix birds. The luan and the phoenix become the mounts of the sages. When a sage holds the throne, they fly together with the phoenix over the countryside.

Today, Dufu Mountain in Lizhou, Hubei, still exists. The Illustrated Gazetteer records that in the past Master Fuqiu (Fuqiu Zi) cultivated the Dao on this mountain, and a stone chamber still stands there.

Song Laizi

Song Laizi lived during the reign of Duke Zhuang of Chu, where he served as market supervisor and was responsible for keeping a certain marketplace clean. After a long time, a beggar often came into the market, begging all day and singing a song:

"Two flowers have sprouted in the heavenly court, and yin evil appears at the mountain's source. At dawn he drives the celestial horse, arriving at the house of Taizhen."

He often sang these few lines while begging in the market. The crowd could not understand them, but Song Laizi suddenly had an insight. He suspected the man was an immortal (xian), yet still did not grasp the meaning of the song. So he followed the beggar, resigned from his office, and went along with him. Thirteen years later, the beggar transmitted to him the Way of the Middle Immortals.

Song Laizi now dwells on the Central Peak. The beggar was Perfected Feng Yanshou of the Western Peak, who served as a court historian during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou.

Shen Xi

Shen Xi was a native of Wu Commandery, and he once studied the Dao in Shu. He was skilled at averting calamities, curing illness, and aiding the common people. Those who took his medicines benefited, and his merit moved Heaven, so that the celestial deities came to know of him.

In the year bingchen of the tenth year of King Nan of Zhou, Lord Lao sent an envoy to summon the hermit Shen Xi. One day, Shen Xi and his wife, Lady Jia, rode together in one carriage toward the home of their daughter-in-law, Zhuo Kongning. Along the way, they encountered three carriages: a dragon carriage, a tiger carriage, and a white deer carriage. Beside each carriage were several dozen attendants, clad in red, bearing spears, and wearing swords, their ceremonial display so magnificent that it filled the road.

The envoy asked Shen Xi, "Are you the Daoist Shen Xi?" Shen Xi replied in surprise, "I am." The envoy said, "You have done meritorious service for the people, and your heart has never forgotten the Great Dao. From birth onward, your conduct has been without fault. But your lifespan is short, and your allotted years are nearly spent. Huanglao (an honorific for Laozi and the Dao) has now sent immortal officials to welcome you. Gentleman Attendant Bo Yan rides the white deer carriage, Lord Sima Sheng of Deliverance from the World rides the azure dragon carriage, and the escort envoy..."

Xu Fu rode in the white tiger carriage. Before long, three immortals appeared, dressed in feather robes and holding fujie (tallies). They presented Xi with a bai yu ce (white jade register), a qing yu jie (green jade boundary), and a dan yu zi (cinnabar jade script), and appointed him Bi Luo Shilang (Vice Minister of the Azure Dawn, an official post in the heavenly realm). Xi could not read the writing, so the immortals carried him up to heaven.

At that time, farmers working the fields along the road all saw this happen. After a short while, thick fog rolled in. When it cleared, Xi was gone, and only his carriage and ox remained, the ox eating the seedlings in the field. Someone recognized the carriage and ox as Xi's and told his family. Several hundred of his descendants feared that evil spirits had taken him, so they searched the valleys nearby, and sent several hundred more people to search in all directions within a radius of a hundred li. They never found him.

Not until the bingwu year, the first year of the Yanping reign of Emperor Shang of the Later Han dynasty, four hundred and twelve years after Xi had left home, did he return to his hometown. His family traced his descendants and found a descendant several dozen generations removed, named Huaixi. Huaixi said, "Our forebears have passed down through the generations that our ancestor was an immortal." The immortal Xi stayed in the village for several dozen days and described what had happened when he ascended:

"When I went up to heaven, I did not see the Heavenly Emperor. I only paid my respects to Laojun (Lord Lao, the deified Laozi revered in Daoism). Laojun sat in a palace facing east, surrounded by dense clouds in five colors, dark and yellow intertwined, beyond description in words. He had several hundred attendants, mostly women and few men. In the courtyard grew jade and pearl trees, and many lingzhi (sacred fungi) sprouted from the ground. Dragons, tigers, and bixie (mythical beasts said to drive away evil spirits) played among them. I heard only a clear ringing, like copper and iron striking together, and I could not tell what it was. The walls on all sides gleamed, and on them were written fu (talismans).

"Laojun was about ten chi tall and shone all over, so that I could not look directly at him. He ordered the jade maidens to bring a golden table and a jade cup, and gave me medicine in it, saying, 'This is a divine elixir (shendan); whoever takes it will not die. You and your wife should each take one daogui (an ancient measure of medicine, a small amount of powder).' After I had taken it, he gave me two jujubes, each as big as an egg, and granted me a fu and an xianfang (immortal prescription). He told me to return to the human world for the time being to heal people's sickness and suffering. If I wished to ascend to the upper realms, I should write out this fu, hang it on the top of a pole, and the celestial officials would come to welcome me."

After Laojun finished speaking, Xi suddenly seemed to fall asleep, and in an instant he was back on the ground. When Empress Dowager Dou fell ill, she sent an envoy to ask Xi to treat her. During the reign of Emperor An of Han, Xi was still living in the human world. Later he ascended to heaven again.

Wang Fu

Wang Fu, courtesy name Gongque, was a man of the Zhou dynasty. At the age of fifty he left home to study the Dao. He took huanglian (goldthread, a bitter medicinal herb) for one hundred and forty years, yet his eyes and ears remained sharp, his mind clear, and his vision broad. His hair turned from white back to black, and the teeth he had lost grew back. He had a son named Shenjing. After both father and son attained the Dao, they ascended to heaven together.

Liu Fenglin

Liu Fenglin lived in the Zhou dynasty. He studied the Way (dao) on Mount Songgao for four hundred years and three times refined a divine elixir (shendan), but each time evil demons (xie mo) destroyed it. Later he entered Mount Weiyu, where he could hold his breath for three days. Even after living more than a thousand years, he had not ascended to immortality (shengxian). It was only by taking coptis root (huanglian) that he was able to attain longevity and never die.

Master Chenglian

Boya studied the qin with Master Chenglian. Master Chenglian took him to tour Penglai Mountain and left him there, saying, "Practice here while I go to welcome my teacher." He then rowed away.

Boya gazed far into the distance and saw only the vast, churning sea, dark and deep mountain forests, and birds and beasts crying out in sorrow. He sighed and said, "My teacher means to change the state of my mind!" He then picked up his qin and began to play. When the piece ended, Master Chenglian returned. Because of this, Boya composed the piece Tianmiao Cao (The Heavenly Wondrous Melody). Master Chenglian later became an immortal (xian ren).

Lord Wuyi

Within Mount Wuyi lived a divine being who called himself Lord Wuyi and said, "I dwell in this mountain, and so it takes its name from me." Another account holds that when heaven and earth first opened, a divine being named Shengmu, the Holy Matriarch, lived on this mountain with her son. In the Qin dynasty people called her the Holy Matriarch, and the immortals revered her as the Great Matriarch Holy Mother. Today, when people pray in the temple, they call her Lady Great Origin.

There is also an account that Yuanling Laojun of Mount Tiantai and the Immortal Master Huazhen dispatched their seventh fairy maiden, named Shuren, who rode clouds and cranes to Mount Wuyi and arranged for earth immortals (di xian) to settle there. People now call her the Immortal of the Crane-Rider. Some also say that long ago a prince of Wei named Zijian built a royal city in Tongzhou, its site facing the Great King Stone. Ten li to the east, the remains of its foundations can still be seen. Zijian had originally been an earth immortal who fell from the heavens, and later attained the Way on this mountain.

Yet another account holds that long ago, Zhang Zhan, Sun Chuo, Zhao Yuanqi, Peng Lingzhao, Liu Jing, Gu Siyuan, Master Baishi, Master Ming, and women from the four families of Hu, Li, Yu, and Wang, twelve people in all, came together to Mount Wuyi to seek the Way. They paid their respects together to the Prince of Wei, who was the local lord.

At that time a severe drought had struck. The Prince of Wei set out wine and held a feast to sacrifice to the immortals and pray for rain. The Immortal of the Crane-Rider descended from the air, riding a cloud-crane and a white horse, and soon heavy rain poured down. Because of this, Zhang Zhan and the others were able to see the immortal. At that time Zhang Zhan presented the immortal with a quatrain:

Lord Wuyi beneath Mount Wuyi, on a white horse, lashes his whip and enters the purple clouds.
In the air one hears only the sound of three libations of wine; over the Dragon Pond Slope, the rain falls in a fine, steady drizzle.

The meaning of the poem is: Lord Wuyi, below Mount Wuyi, lashes his whip and rides a white horse into the purple clouds. In the air there is heard only the sound of three libations of wine, and over the Dragon Pond Slope the rain falls in a steady, fine drizzle.

The immortal was very fond of the poem, and seeing that Zhang Zhan and the others had extraordinary bearing and steadfast, single-minded devotion to the Way...

Each of them had a destined connection to immortality, so the immortal sent He Fenger to Mount Tiantai to retrieve the immortal registry (xianji, the ledger recording the names of immortals and the causes of their attainment).

After He Fenger brought back the registry, the immortal examined it and found that it recorded these people as having been banished to the mortal world to become ordinary commoners, and that they should dwell together on this mountain. After eight hundred years they would attain the Dao, have their bones transformed, and return to the heavenly realm. Seeing that each name was listed in the register, the immortal arranged for the Lord of Wei and the other twelve to live here, granting each one a he measure of sesame and half a he measure of medicinal decoction. The immortal then ordered the Lord of Wei to hold a banquet with wine. Zhang Zhan had Yuan Heng play the jiegu (a percussion instrument, a kind of drum), Peng Lingzhao played the horizontal flute, Gu Siyuan performed dance and music, and Li Sanniang played the pipa. After the revelry, the assembled immortals dispersed.

The immortal told them: "When the Lord of Wei and the others have reached eight hundred years, you may cut yellow-heart wood to make coffins, and undergo xuanhua (a Daoist term for the dissolution of the physical form, in which the spirit is released from the body) within this rock, and you will then return to the heavenly realm." When the appointed time arrived, xuanhua indeed took place. In the Little Hidden Rock they prepared thirteen long wooden coffins and placed wooden cases within the rock to hang their spirit bones. These relics remain there to this day.

The record further states that on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the second year of the First Emperor of Qin, the Lord of Wuyi set out a feast on Manting Peak and invited the villagers. More than a thousand men and women came on the appointed day after purifying themselves through fasting. The crowd saw a bridge arching over the stream like a rainbow, its structure exquisitely crafted, with flying ladders and steps coiling upward and railings on both sides. Feeling light in body and joyful in heart, they felt no weariness and climbed to the summit.

On the summit, the curtained pavilion's colorful halls were delicate and bright, with several hundred rooms in front and behind. Eight painted banners stood on either side of the pavilion, with silver dragons holding jade ornaments in their mouths and banners hanging from them, and golden phoenixes whose feathers were jade-green. The pavilion could hold more than a thousand people. Seats were laid out on the east and west sides, each with long benches, resembling the seats of monks and nuns today. On the tables were green oilcloth and red-edged patterned tablecloths. The tables and seats were arranged from north to south in an unbroken line.

In the center of the north wall of the curtained pavilion stood an empty couch, called the "Jade Emperor Seat of Taiji." On the west side of the north wall, in an annex room, stood another empty couch, called the "Seat of the Great Mother Wei Zhen." On the east side of the north wall stood a third empty couch, called the "Seat of the Lord of Wuyi." All three seats were spread with red cloud cushions and purple mist mats, and each held a bronze basin of flower-scented water.

As the villagers arrived at the gate of Manting Peak, they heard the sound of drums. After a while, a command descended from the sky, addressing the villagers as "great-grandchildren," and directing the male grandsons to enter the hall of ceremony on the east and the female granddaughters to follow into the hall of ceremony on the west. Afterward, the crowd heard someone praising……

The immortal told the crowd, "The Supreme Ultimate Jade Emperor (Taiji Yuhuang Dadi) has descended upon the mountain wilds. You younger ones may bow in reverence."

Then someone said, "The Perfected Wei of Taimu has also arrived. You may make your bows." The crowd heard a sound of breathing and coughing and knew that the Lord of Wuyi had come. The Lord of Wuyi called out in a loud voice, "You younger generations, men and women alike, are all safe and sound. The male grandchildren sit to the east, and the female grandchildren sit to the west. In the pavilion at the center, hang blue silk curtains. On each side, set up a bed and arrange the various musical instruments."

The crowd then heard an announcement ordering the musicians to take their places. Zhang Anling struck the lead drum, Zhao Yuanqi beat the accompanying drum, Liu Xiaoqin played the kan bell-drum, Zeng Shaozhong shook the rattle-drum, Qiao Zhiman sounded the clamor drum, and Gao Zichun held the short drum. Bao Gongxi, the master of the wind section, played the transverse flute, and He Fenger clapped the clappers. On the east side, the curtained space performed The Left Immortal's Song of Halting Clouds (Tingyun Zuo Xianzhi Qu). Dong Jiaoniang plucked the konghou harp, Xie Yingfei strummed the long zither, Lü Hexiang played the round pipa, Ci Gu blew the bili reed pipe, Xiu Dan played the vertical bamboo flute, Zhu Xiao'e played the sheng mouth organ, and Luo Miaorong struck the bronze cymbals. On the west side, the curtained space performed The Right Immortal's Song of Guest Clouds (Binyun You Xianzhi Qu). The instruments sounded on their own, with no one playing them, both in the vertical and the horizontal directions, and their tones were exquisite.

Afterward, someone ordered wine poured. It was brought quickly, and the guests needed no words of thanks. The wine was sweet and fragrant, rich and mellow, and the various dishes and delicacies were all remarkably unusual. Then someone again ordered wine poured and had the singer Peng Lingzhao perform a song, "Lament for the Human World":

Chances for heaven and earth to meet are few, and fewer still,
The sun sinks toward the western hills, and evening birds fly home in flocks.
A hundred years of life pass in a moment, and our wishes are often left unfulfilled.
The heavenly palace is near at hand, yet we regret that we cannot follow.

The song had hardly ended when colored clouds gathered suddenly from all four directions, the sound of jade pendants and of horses and attendants rose, and in an instant everything vanished. The crowd heard an announcement: "Jade Spirit Taimu and Great Aunt Taimu are about to take leave of the younger generations. Please make two more bows." It was also said, "You should go down the mountain at once. If you linger too long in the mountains, you may meet snakes, chi-dragons, tigers, or leopards. Do not encounter them."

The crowd then went down the mountain. Before long, a sudden wind and rain swept in. The people turned to look back at the summit, but there was nothing left there. The villagers sighed to one another, "We are humble, ordinary folk, yet we were able to feast together with the revered immortals." Afterward, people set up a shrine on this mountain to make offerings, and they named the mountain "Tongshan" (the Mountain of Shared Feasting).

Vice Minister Liu Kui wrote in his preface: This mountain lies more than two hundred li north of Jian'ning and thirty li south of Chong'an County. According to the Inner Biography of Lord Mao (Maojun Neizhuan), the immortal realm has thirty-six...

Cave-Heaven (dongtian) Mount Wuyi is the sixteenth cave-heaven, named the "Heaven of Ascending to Perfection and Mysterious Transformation" (Shengzhen Xuanhua zhi Tian).

Wang Weixuan

Little is known of Wang Weixuan's origins. The Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen Gao) records that he served as an attendant of King Zhuang of Chu and once sought the Dao (the Way) from the Lord Wang. After attaining the Dao, he dwelt in a grotto chamber on Mount Linwu.

Han Chong, a man of the state of Wu who was fond of the arts of the Dao, traveled to famous mountains. While seeking methods on Mount Linwu, he met Wang Weixuan and asked him for the way of long life. Wang Weixuan transmitted to him the "Flowing Pearl Elixir" (liuzhu dan), a Daoist elixir method, and said: "If you practice this art, you may still live in the world. On the day your merit is complete, you will naturally attain the Dao and ascend as an immortal."

Han Chong practiced diligently and achieved results. He later took office and served as Grand Administrator of Runan. During his fourteen years in post, his governance and moral instruction were excellent, and his record was judged the finest under heaven. He lived to the age of seventy-four. Afterward, Wang Weixuan appeared again and transmitted to Han Chong the methods of withdrawing from the world and liberating the body from its form. He also taught him the "Niwan Purple Gate" technique (Niwan Zihu zhi shu), a Daoist cultivation method. Han Chong then ascended to heaven.

Han Zhong

Han Zhong was a native of Deyang County in the Han dynasty. He cultivated the Dao in the Qin region and received the Golden Writings and Jade Characters (jinshu yuzi) transmitted by the Perfected Sovereign of Heaven (Tianzhen Huangren). Thereafter, whether he walked or stayed still, he could ride on purple mist, and he ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

The Lisao (Encountering Sorrow) mentions Han Zhong, saying: "How marvelous! Han Zhong entrusted his body to the stars. Having attained the Dao, his form was at peace, and he gradually departed from the dust of the world, leaving the crowd to retire into seclusion."

Wang Cizhong

Wang Cizhong was an immortal of ancient times who lived at the close of the Zhou dynasty, during the Warring States period, when the states formed shifting alliances and rivalries. He lived in seclusion on the Greater and Lesser Xia Mountains in Fanyang.

At that time, the seal script (zhuanwen) devised by Cang Jie had too many strokes and was inconvenient to use, making it difficult to record affairs across the land quickly. Yet managing the affairs of the realm and writing documents were essential. Wang Cizhong therefore reformed the seal and greater seal (zhou) scripts and created the clerical script (lishu).

After Qin Shi Huang unified the realm, he judged that the script Wang Cizhong had created benefited the common people, and he three times issued edicts summoning him to Qin. Wang Cizhong went to none of them and sent no reply. The First Emperor said to his envoy: "I have pacified the realm and unified the six states. Who dares not submit? Wang Cizhong is merely a scholar, yet he defies the Son of Heaven's command. Bring him here in a prison cart. If not, kill him and bring back his head, to correct the customs. Do not let him remain so defiant and arrogant."

The envoy came to the mountain with the edict and placed Wang Cizhong in a prison cart. Suddenly, Wang Cizhong transformed into a great bird and burst forth violently from the cart. The envoy, in terror, knelt and bowed, saying: "If I return empty-handed, I will surely be put to death. I beg only for the pity of the divine man." The great bird circled in the sky, then dropped three of its feathers, and the envoy took the feathers back as an offering. The First Emperor had always been fond of the ways of the immortals, and upon hearing that Wang Cizhong was able to transform...

He too felt deep regret, and so he named the place Luohe Mountain (Mountain of Shed Feathers). The villagers continued to make offerings there without interruption.

Ruoshi

Ruoshi was an immortal of ancient times, and no one knows his name. In the Qin dynasty, Lu Ao, a man of Yan, travelled to the North Sea. He passed through Taiyin (a dark and remote region), entered Xuanque (a deep and mysterious pass), and arrived at Menggu Mountain, where he met Ruoshi.

Ruoshi had deep-set eyes and a high-bridged nose. His shoulders rose like an eagle's, his neck was long, and his upper body was full while his lower body was thin. He looked content and was dancing against the wind. When he saw Lu Ao, he hid behind a stone stele. Lu Ao followed to look, and saw him crouched down, curled up like a turtle, eating crabs and clams.

Lu Ao then said to him, "I, Lu Ao, have turned away from the crowd and journeyed alone, wishing to exhaust the sights beyond the Six Directions (heaven, earth, and the four quarters). Since youth I have loved to travel, and as an adult I have toured every quarter. Only the North Pole remains unvisited. Now that I have met you here, perhaps we might become friends?"

Ruoshi, composed and unhurried, smiled and said, "Alas, you are a person of the Central Plains, and you should not have come so far. You are like one who knows only that the sun and moon shine and the stars revolve, but does not know that this nameless place still holds unfathomable mysteries. In the past I travelled south to the wilderness of [illegible name], rested north in the Land of Silence, went west to the realm of darkness and depth, and crossed east through the boundless expanse of light. There, below, there is no earth; above, there is no sky. One cannot see it, nor hear it. Beyond that place lies a vast sea, and with a single step one can travel thousands of miles, yet I still cannot exhaust its marvels. Now you have just arrived here and claim that you will exhaust the distant sights. Is this not a shallow notion?

"Yet stay here. I have agreed to meet Hanman (the boundless realm) in Jiugai (the highest and most remote reaches), and I cannot linger." With that, he raised his arms, sprang upright, and immediately entered the clouds. Lu Ao gazed upward, but could no longer see him. His heart was dazed and bereft, as though he had lost something. Lu Ao sighed, "Compared with you, sir, I am like a swan beside a tiny insect on the ground. I walk all day without going more than a few feet, yet think I have travelled far. Is this not profoundly pitiful?"

Chen Daoyi remarks: When Lu Ao journeyed to the North Sea, met Ruoshi, and spoke of exhausting the distant sights, he indeed appeared shallow. Ruoshi travelled beyond the Six Directions without limit, yet still did not exhaust the mysteries within them. Among later generations, there have always been many who are not like Lu Ao. They obtain only a single method or one technique, and then consider themselves already accomplished…

The Dao (the Way) is empty and without form. Its general character is just this, so how could anyone call it shallow? The Daodejing (Dao De Jing) says: "Look at it and it cannot be seen; it is called yi (level, featureless). Listen to it and it cannot be heard; it is called xi (faint). Grasp for it and it cannot be touched; it is called wei (subtle). These three cannot be pursued to their ends, so they are merged into one. Above, it is not bright; below, it is not dark. It stretches on without end and cannot be named; in the end it returns to the state of no-thing. This is called the form that has no shape and the image that has no image, and it is also called huanghu (elusive and indistinct)." A person who is like this may come close to the Dao.

Gu Zhangfu (The Ancient Gentleman)

Xun Da and Yin Zixu traveled together through Mount Song and Mount Hua, and beneath a pine tree they met an elderly man and a woman. The two asked, "How is it that immortals dwell here?" The elderly man replied, "I was once a corvée laborer of the Qin dynasty, and this woman, Maonü (the Hairy Woman, a figure said to have lived in seclusion in the mountains), was a palace attendant of the Qin court. We were both chosen to be buried alive with the dead, but together we escaped the calamity at Mount Li and hid ourselves here. I do not know how many years have passed since then."

The two said, "We are fortunate to have met a great immortal, and we beg you to pass on the great medicine of the Golden Elixir (jin dan)." The elderly man said, "I was originally an ordinary person. At first I ate cypress seeds, and later I ate pine resin. As the years went on, I became able to travel through the air, and my hair turned a blue-green color. I do not know what the great medicine of the Golden Elixir actually is."

Maonü composed a poem: "Who knows what difference there is between past and present? At ease, I tread the blue mist and wind around the green peaks. The sound of pipes from the Qin towers must long since have fallen silent; the colored clouds vainly stain my fig-ivy (biluo) robes." The elderly man said, "Here are pine resin aged ten thousand years and cypress seeds aged a thousand years. You may take them, and you should also be able to transcend the mundane world." Afterward, the two built a dwelling and lived on Lotus Peak.

Yanmenzi (Master Yanmen)

Yanmenzi attained the Dao and underwent shijie (corpse liberation, the Daoist notion that a practitioner leaves behind the body while the person transforms and departs). His tomb is in Lu County of Yuyang Commandery. It is said that he now resides in the Golden Court (Huangjin Ting) of the Great Cavern of Mount Meng, where he has received a written appointment as Immortal Minister of the Central Origin (Zhongyuan xianqing). Yanmen is the same as Xianmen (Xianmen Zi).

Zhou Yishan, the Perfected Ziyang (Ziyang Zhenren), heard that Mr. Yao (Yao xiansheng) had attained the Dao and was living on Mount Meng, and that he could still recite the Longjiao Jing (Scripture of the Dragon Stilts, a Daoist text). He therefore went to seek him out. On Mount Meng, he encountered Xianmenzi riding a white crane, holding a feathered canopy, and carrying a green-feathered staff, with more than ten jade maidens attending him. Zhou Yishan bowed and kowtowed again and again, begging for the essential secrets of long life. Xianmenzi said, "Your name has already been recorded in the Cinnabar Terrace and Jade Chamber (Dantai Yushi), the registry of the immortal realm. Why worry that you cannot become an immortal? You have crossed rivers and oceans to come here. What exactly do you hope to obtain?"

Shen Wentai

Shen Wentai was a man of Mount Jiuyi. He obtained the method of the Divine Elixir of the Red Spring (Hongquan shendan), as well as the cultivation method of prolonging life through earth talismans (tu fu). After he took the elixir, its effects were indeed confirmed. He wished to travel to Mount Kunlun, but first he left behind these methods, which had been dormant for more than two thousand years, so that he could transmit them to Li Wenyuan. He said, "Earth talismans can keep a person from dying; taking medicine and cultivating the Dao . . ." The original text breaks off here.

This brought no benefit. Wenyuan later accepted the Miyao (Secret Essentials), and afterward he too ascended to immortality. The later practices of boiling elixirs with bamboo-root juice, the Yellow and White Arts (huangbai zhi shu), and the methods for expelling the Three Corpses (sanshi) were all transmitted through these two men.

Dong Ye

Dong Ye, courtesy name Zhongxuan, was a native of Yiyi in Wudu. As a young man he loved to read and often travelled through the mountains with books on his person. Finding the scrolls too many and too cumbersome to carry, he gathered leaves to use in place of bamboo slips, saying that leaves were easier to roll up. He once worked as a herdsman and also gathered firewood to sell. One day, while in the wild, he came upon some scrolls and, believing they had been transformed by ghosts or spirits, copied them out again and bound them into a book.

He was carefree by temperament and held no office. He often wandered around the butchers' quarters and sometimes begged large sheepskins to make clothing. His dwelling was so small it could barely hold him alone. He wove a bed of brambles and gathered birds' and beasts' fur to serve as bedding. In summer he slept outdoors on grass and stones.

It is said that he lived to the age of 190, and his hair and temples still looked as they had in his childhood. He lived in seclusion and his whereabouts were uncertain. Sometimes he rode an ox or a donkey, and at other times he went about in wooden clogs. The distance from his home to Chang'an was three hundred li, and he could cover it in a single day. He often rested at other people's houses. When setting out, he would write on the palm of his hand the characters he wished to remember, and upon returning home he would copy them onto bamboo-shoot husks. Because he copied so much, his tongue often turned black and his palms were worn raw. People said that his palms were used for recording and his tongue for learning, and that was why he toiled so constantly.

Dong Ye felt that the world was noisy and troubled, so he wrote tens of thousands of words criticizing the Confucian teachings. He argued that men such as the Duke of Zhou and Confucius bewildered later generations with ritual and music, devising rites in such intricate and convoluted ways that people lost their way. He held that humans receive the Five Constant Qi (the Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness) and are therefore the most spiritually endowed of all beings. Since they naturally understand ritual and music, he asked, why should they need ritual and music to restrain their feelings?

He also compared Fuxi, the Yellow Emperor, Tang Yao, Xia Yu, and Shang Tang with the Duke of Zhou and Confucius. Fuxi taught people to hunt birds and beasts for food, after which they came to understand the change from eating raw, foul-smelling flesh. The Yellow Emperor taught people to ride in boats, after which they had houses to live in. The three sages Tang Yao, Xia Yu, and Shang Tang, some by controlling floods and others by praying for rain to end drought, all removed calamities from the people. But the Duke of Zhou and Confucius forcibly bound people with ritual and disturbed them with music. Excessive music makes people more sorrowful, and unrestrained ritual invites disorder. Neither, he argued, was the fundamental way to govern.

Emperor Wu of the Han, hearing that Dong Ye did not conform to worldly convention, summoned him to Chang'an. When the two conversed, Dong Ye's words all accorded with subtle principles. Afterward, no one knew where he had gone.

Li Chong

Li Chong was a native of Fengyi. He claimed to have lived three hundred years, and he once accompanied the First Emperor of Qin to Kuaiji, where he gazed out over the rivers and the sea. In his youth he loved to read and studied under an academician (boshi), and he had ten thousand disciples. At that time Fusheng was...

At the age of ten, Chong studied the Book of Documents (Shangshu) from Fu Sheng inside a stone wall. Fu Sheng recited the text aloud, and Chong memorized it line by line. To aid his memory, Fu Sheng tied a cord more than ten fathoms long around his waist and tied a knot in it after each complete recitation, until the entire cord was covered with knots. He recited in this way tens of thousands of times. Later, however, he said: "Eating the five grains harms a person's essence (jing), vital energy (qi), and wisdom, so forgetting is inevitable." The Book of Documents that Fu Sheng transmitted had one hundred chapters, but only a portion of it survives today, and the chapters on Yao and Shun, the "Canons of Yao and Shun," are especially incomplete.

During the Han dynasty, Chong regularly took chrysanthemum and atractylodes (cangzhu and baizhu, a kind of medicinal herb). When someone asked why he did not speak, he waited more than ten days before replying: "There is nothing in the world worth eating, and nothing worth saying. I let my spirit (shen) roam among the clouds and the jade-like mists, and only my mind-spirit remains in my body. How could I speak? I fear that speaking would wear out my spirit and exhaust my tongue." When the emperor heard that he possessed uncanny powers, he summoned him to court. Chong arrived in the capital wearing a garment woven of lotus leaves and carrying the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, a Daoist talismanic chart (fulu) depicting the terrain of the five peaks. The emperor received him with courtesy and also called him "Master Bearer-of-the-Diagram."

Meng Qi

Meng Qi was a hermit from Qinghe. He sought out his teacher without shrinking from danger, and he lived to be seven hundred years old. It is said that he still remembered the events of the early Zhou dynasty in clear detail. Some claimed to have seen him attending at the side when the Duke of Zhou, holding King Cheng in his arms, went to the Zhou ancestral temple to worship. When the Duke ascended the altar, Meng Qi touched King Cheng's feet with his hand, and the Duke gave Meng Qi his own court tablet (hu), a ceremonial implement held at audiences. Meng Qi kept it treasured and often wiped it with his sleeve. By now the tablet has been worn thin and pointed, and it is nearly broken.

Meng Qi once lived beneath Mount Hua, consuming cassia leaves and gathering herbs. Hearing that the emperor was fond of the immortal Way, he pushed through the brambles and thorns and came out of the mountain forest.

Guo Qiong

Guo Qiong was a man of Dongfang Commandery. He was unattractive in appearance but very discerning. He traveled leaning on a staff and often lodged in other people's homes. At each lodging, he asked his host for some firewood to light his reading, and he read through the night.

If a host kept secret books or prophetic writings (chenwei, texts foretelling fortune and misfortune) sealed tightly in a chest and bound with rattan, Guo Qiong seemed able to know their contents without opening them. After reading them, no one failed to admire his uncanny gift. When word came that Guo Qiong was about to arrive for lodging, some people barred their doors and burned the books they did not wish him to see, and only then did they open the door to welcome him.

Fearing that Guo Qiong would discover their private affairs, people were uneasy. He would often take a bundle of counting rods from his sleeve, scatter them before his knees, and use them to infer the hidden circumstances of a household, and he was never wrong. At times he lay down during the day without closing his eyes. While walking, he left no footprints. He even bared his body, like a madman. Emperor Wu of the Han valued these strange feats highly.

Huang An

Huang An was a man of Daijun. He described himself as of humble origin and said he did not dare to dwell among the world of men. He held a horsewhip and pushed ...

Jing Song would often lick the ground during the day with his tongue, measuring the length of his tongue. After a night, a pool would form on the ground. When he moved elsewhere to lick the ground, the same thing would happen there. People at the time called this practice "tongue-plowing" (shegeng). When he lived to over eighty, he still looked like a child.

Jing Song regularly took cinnabar, his whole body was red, and he wore no clothes. He sat on the back of a divine tortoise about three chi (feet) wide. When someone asked how many years he had sat on the tortoise, he replied: "When Fuxi (a legendary sovereign of high antiquity) first began making fishing nets, this tortoise already existed, and its back was still flat then. This tortoise fears the light of the sun and moon, and it only pokes its head out once every three thousand years. Since I obtained it, it has poked its head out five times."

When Jing Song travelled, he carried the divine tortoise on his back and walked briskly. The world called him "An Nian Wan Sui" (Peace for Years, Ten Thousand Years). Emperor Wu of Han heard of his extraordinary deeds and summoned him to discuss emptiness and the affairs of immortals. Jing Song's words left the emperor convinced and submissive. Later, when Emperor Wu performed the feng-shan sacrifices (fengshan) on Mount Tai, he issued an edict ordering Dong Ye, Li Chong, Meng Qi, Guo Qiong, and Huang An to ride together in one carriage, calling them the "Five Immortal Ministers" (Wu Xian Chen). After Emperor Wu died, the five departed, and no one knew where they went.